Aspects of the technology described herein relate to techniques for guiding an operator to use an ultrasound device. Thereby, operators with little or no experience operating ultrasound devices may capture medically relevant ultrasound images and/or interpret the contents of the obtained ultrasound images. For example, some of the techniques disclosed herein may be used to identify a particular anatomical view of a subject to image with an ultrasound device, guide an operator of the ultrasound device to capture an ultrasound image of the subject that contains the particular anatomical view, and/or analyze the captured ultrasound image to identify medical information about the subject.

A method of identifying a location of a region of interest within a breast utilizes compressed location coordinates for the region of interest recorded while the breast is under compression during an x-ray imaging procedure such as mammography or tomosynthesis. The compressed location coordinates are converted to uncompressed location coordinates using a mathematical tissue deformation model. The volume and density of the breast affects how the coordinates are translated for use with an ultrasound imaging system. A system including a computing system in communication with an ultrasound imaging system is utilized to perform the method. The resultant predicted location coordinates of the region of interest are used to guide a healthcare provider to potential lesions that are to be examined using ultrasound, where the potential lesions had been previously identified during a screening mammogram.

A training system to teach use of an ultrasound probe, the training system having a chamber defining an orifice, a shaft insertable into the orifice of the chamber, a marker positioned on the shaft at a distal end, a camera positioned to view the marker when inserted inside the chamber, and a processor operatively connected to the camera for processing a position and an orientation of the shaft based on the marker. The system provides a method for visualizing movement of the shaft from inside the chamber.

An ultrasound imaging system with an inertial tracking sensor (20) rigidly fixed to an ultrasound probe (10). In a first embodiment, a real-time pose estimation unit (32) enhances image based tracking using the inertial data stream to calculate out-of-plane angles of rotation and determine an out-of-plane translation by iteratively selecting planes with the estimated out-of-plane rotations with varying out-of-plane offset, computing the differences between sub-plane distances computed by speckle analysis and the selected plane minimizing for the root mean square of the differences for all selected planes. In another embodiment, the real-time pose estimation unit enhances inertial tracking using the ultrasound image data stream to estimate an in-plane rotation angle; and substituting the in-plane rotation angle for an angle of rotation estimated using the inertial data stream.

A system for robot-assisted ultrasound scanning comprises a multi axis robot with an end effector, a transducer holding element for connecting an ultrasound transducer to the end effector, a user input arrangement having at least three separate proportional inputs representing desired ultrasound transducer displacement along X, Y and Z axes of an orthogonal coordinate system defining the ultrasound transducer motion, and a controller which is connected to the user input arrangement and which controls the end effector based on input. The controller acquires a 3D model of a surface to be scanned and is arranged to continuously update the orthogonal coordinate system defining the ultrasound transducer motion as the ultrasound transducer moves, the X, Y and Z axes are arranged as described. In this way, the operator can easily move the transducer along the surface of the area to be scanned.

To register a position and an angle of a scanning surface of an ultrasound probe easily and accurately. A phantom including two or more wires stretched in a non-parallel manner is disposed in a real space in which a position detection sensor is disposed. An ultrasound probe, to which a probe position detection marker is attached, is moved on the phantom in a parallel manner while keeping an orientation of a main plane of the ultrasound probe constant. Two or more ultrasound images of the phantom are acquired while detecting a position of the probe position detection marker in the real space with the position detection sensor. Positions of cross-sectional images of the two or more wires included in each of the two or more ultrasound images are obtained. A relation between the position of the probe position detection marker in the real space and orientations and positions of the captured ultrasound images in the real space is calculated based on a relation between the obtained positions of the cross-sectional images. The calculated relation as probe coordinate transformation information is registered in a storage unit.

An application running in a mobile device displays an ultrasound image obtained by a connected ultrasound scanner. A button is displayed on the device, which, when activated, automatically connects the device to a remote reviewer in a virtual videoconferencing room, without the operator of the scanner needing to input user credentials. Upon activating the button, or otherwise triggering the request for a review, pre-stored login credentials are automatically retrieved and used for connecting the operator to the room. The remote reviewer may be connected to the room upon accepting the request for review, without having to input user credentials, which are pre-stored and automatically retrieved.

Disclosed is an ultrasonic image presentation device comprising: an ultrasonic scanner having a probe which is a part coming into direct contact with an object and a marker; a photographing unit configured to photograph the marker; an ultrasonic image presentation unit configured to acquire an ultrasonic image as a two-dimensional depth cross-sectional image for a part coming into contact with the probe of the ultrasonic scanner, estimate a position and posture of the marker in a three-dimensional image on the basis of an image photographed by the photographing unit; estimate a position and posture of the probe in the three-dimensional image from the estimated marker position and posture information, create a point cloud by converting pixels of the ultrasonic image into points of the three-dimensional image on the basis of the estimated probe position and posture information, and restore the three-dimensional ultrasonic image on the basis of the created point cloud; and a display unit configured to display the three-dimensional ultrasonic image restored by the ultrasonic image presentation unit. It is possible to provide a three-dimensional ultrasonic image simply and easily with lower cost.

An ultrasound probe is guided to an optimal position on a patient's body by illuminating the patient's body with a laser, by displaying icons of the probe position and the optimal position on a 3-D model of the patient's body, or by playing an audio signal that varies according to distance of the probe position from the optimal position. In certain embodiments, the probe is guided to a series of optimal positions for conducting a vascular exam, responsive to a database of human anatomy and vasculature and responsive to a database of vascular exam procedures.

Aspects of the technology described herein relate to techniques for guiding an operator to use an ultrasound device. Thereby, operators with little or no experience operating ultrasound devices may capture medically relevant ultrasound images and/or interpret the contents of the obtained ultrasound images. For example, some of the techniques disclosed herein may be used to identify a particular anatomical view of a subject to image with an ultrasound device, guide an operator of the ultrasound device to capture an ultrasound image of the subject that contains the particular anatomical view, and/or analyze the captured ultrasound image to identify medical information about the subject.